Italian Open 2019: Johanna Konta beats Kiki Bertens in close match to reach final

Konta's only previous final on clay came recently in Rabat, Morocco, where she lost the title match to Maria Sakkari

Johanna Konta is through to the final (Getty)

Johanna Konta rallied past sixth-seeded Kiki Bertens 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in nearly three hours on Saturday to reach the Italian Open final for the biggest clay-court result of her career.

Konta's only previous final on clay came recently in Rabat, Morocco, where she lost the title match to Maria Sakkari.

This result will give the British No 1 even more confidence entering the French Open, which starts next weekend.

Bertens was coming off the Madrid Open title last week.

In Sunday's final, Konta will face either fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova or Sakkari.

In the men's semifinals later, Rafael Nadal meets Stefanos Tsitsipas — a week after losing to the Greek player in Madrid. Also, Novak Djokovic plays Diego Schwartzman.